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October 17, 2017 - Ray Dunkum, a Mud Island River Park tour guide and museum assistant, walks along the Riverwalk on Tuesday afternoon. The city is considering working with a private partner to build an aquarium on Mud Island, as well as a pedestrian bridge from the south end of the island to the riverfront. Yalonda M. James/The Commercial Appeal

From left: Liesel Schmidt, 11, of Carmel, Indiana, and her sisters Kiersten, 12, and Caroline, 9, play in the Riverwalk at Mud Island River Park on Oct. 17, 2017. The city is considering working with a private partner to build an aquarium on Mud Island, as well as a pedestrian bridge from the south end of the island to the riverfront. Yalonda M. James / The Commercial Appeal

October 17, 2017 - The City of Memphis is considering working with a private partner to build an aquarium on Mud Island, as well as a pedestrian bridge from the south end of the island to the riverfront. Yalonda M. James/The Commercial Appeal

October 17, 2017 - The City of Memphis is considering working with a private partner to build an aquarium on Mud Island, as well as a pedestrian bridge from the south end of the island to the riverfront. Yalonda M. James/The Commercial Appeal

October 17, 2017 - The City of Memphis is considering working with a private partner to build an aquarium on Mud Island, as well as a pedestrian bridge from the south end of the island to the riverfront. Yalonda M. James/The Commercial Appeal

October 17, 2017 - The City of Memphis is considering working with a private partner to build an aquarium on Mud Island, as well as a pedestrian bridge from the south end of the island to the riverfront. Yalonda M. James/The Commercial Appeal

October 17, 2017 - The City of Memphis is considering working with a private partner to build an aquarium on Mud Island, as well as a pedestrian bridge from the south end of the island to the riverfront. Yalonda M. James/The Commercial Appeal

October 17, 2017 - The City of Memphis is considering working with a private partner to build an aquarium on Mud Island, as well as a pedestrian bridge from the south end of the island to the riverfront. Yalonda M. James/The Commercial Appeal

October 17, 2017 - The City of Memphis is considering working with a private partner to build an aquarium on Mud Island, as well as a pedestrian bridge from the south end of the island to the riverfront. Yalonda M. James/The Commercial Appeal

October 17, 2017 - The City of Memphis is considering working with a private partner to build an aquarium on Mud Island, as well as a pedestrian bridge from the south end of the island to the riverfront. Yalonda M. James/The Commercial Appeal

October 17, 2017 - The City of Memphis is considering working with a private partner to build an aquarium on Mud Island, as well as a pedestrian bridge from the south end of the island to the riverfront. Yalonda M. James/The Commercial Appeal

Benny Lendermon, who oversaw the development of dramatic, if costly, amenities that transformed public spaces along the Mississippi River in Memphis, announced he will retire as president of the Riverfront Development Corp. after members of his board pushed for a "little change in direction," officials said Thursday.

Lendermon, 65, was the founding president of RDC, a nonprofit entity formed in 2000 to enhance the Memphis riverfront and manage parks and facilities there under a contract with the city. He will step down in April.

Lendermon, whose career included 25 years' service with the city, including a stint as Public Works director, said he's proud to have "made Memphis a better place," but it's time for a new leader to take over RDC.

"Sixty hours a week is getting old," Lendermon said, adding that with a new phase of projects planned — including a proposed aquarium at Mud Island River Park and amenities outlined for a riverfront task force appointed by Mayor Jim Strickland — he felt it was time to retire.

"I think it's absolutely teed up (for more progress). So now begins this whole new momentum ... that's going to involve hugely larger work for the RDC in other areas. In my mind, I had to either commit to do this for another three or four years, or it's a really good time for a change," he said.

Members of RDC's board on Thursday offered praise for Lendermon's leadership, but they said that during a retreat last weekend they made it clear a leader with greater fundraising skills is needed to navigate the ambitious path facing the agency.

"I can't think of anyone who has done more, in my time, to improve the riverfront than Benny," board chairman John Farris said.

"Benny's led us to this point and has done an outstanding job. ... It's just time to go to the next level," he added.

"He was not forced out at all. It was just a little change in direction ... ."

Fundraising on the horizon

Farris said that with RDC planning a scheme of "transformative" improvements to the riverfront, the board will be conducting a national search for a new president who has strong fundraising expertise.

"I'm not saying Benny couldn't do fundraising. It's just that we've never done it before ..." he said. "We're going to have to raise operating dollars and capital dollars."

RDC, which manages Mud Island River Park and 10 other parks, has an annual budget of just under $7 million, of which nearly $3 million is provided under contract by the city. In 2015, Lendermon earned $213,743, plus $30,744 in "other compensation," according to tax filings for the agency.

RDC has 36 full-time-equivalent employees, including about a half-dozen executive-level positions. The staffing level will need to be increased, board members said.

"We're very, very thin," Carol Coletta said. "I frankly don't know how Benny's done what he's done, given the resources he has to work with."

Under Lendermon's leadership, RDC completed numerous improvements and projects, including the $43 million Beale Street Landing, a docking facility that has helped attract large river cruise boats to Memphis. It also built a scenic median on Riverside Drive, a roundabout at A.W. Willis and Island Drive and pedestrian connections between Tom Lee and Martyrs parks, both of which have been improved.

Other projects include a walkway at the historic Cobblestone Landing and a stairway from Tom Lee Park to the top of the riverfront bluffs.

Perhaps more significantly, Lendermon helped lead the effort to secure the old Customs House for use as the University of Memphis' Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law.

"That was a big shift in bringing more people to the riverfront and revitalizing that building," said RDC Vice President Dorchelle Spence.

Strickland, the third mayor with whom Lendermon worked, issued a statement expressing gratitude for his service. "The front door of the city is better because of Benny’s leadership. As a city we’ll continue to build on his efforts, and we wish him well as he moves forward,” Strickland said.

But critics have described RDC as wasteful, unnecessary and averse to public involvement. They've argued that the agency's work could be handed back to the city or transferred to a conservancy.

"It makes no sense to brag about a project like Beale Street Landing — a $43 million boat dock that doesn't work at high water or at low water," said Virginia McLean, president of the group Friends for Our Riverfront.

Lendermon, however, said none of RDC's projects experienced cost overruns after the contracts had been awarded. Responding to longtime criticism of his and other salaries at RDC, he said outside consultants had reviewed the agency's salaries and found them to be well within standards.